From the Home Office in Richmond, VA…

For now, Tom Pecora says that Arminas Urbutis is likely not coming back this season. Pitzie was evolving and a third option behind Agudio and Jenkins but re-injured his knee against James Madison.

Also, Pecora on William & Mary: “(They) run their offense so hard you are literally chasing them on defense.”

And Anthony Grant, on “revenge” as a motivator tomorrow. JMU defeated VCU 62-61 at the Convo in early January: “It’s not anywhere near that. We’re not getting the first game back. We’ve got to play the game in front of us, not the game behind us. Our focus has got to be on today. I don’t think a revenge factor will take any shape or form and hopefully our guys won’t be thinking that.”

Tony Shaver came as close as he ever has to having a chip on his shoulder when discussing the R-word. He noted that when CAA broadcasts are on and the analysts are talking about the best teams in the conference, the Tribe rarely comes up. Shaver said, almost as if he were throwing out a nugget for a blogger to pick up, that W&M has the same record as other teams but still aren’t in the conversation. This they use as motivation, that they still need to gain respect.

William & Mary is tied for second in the CAA with a 9-4 record and has gone 12-5 overall after starting the season 1-5. The nine conference victories are the most for the Tribe since 1997-98. The Dub sits fourth in the CAA with an 8-5 mark after going 4-14 last season, while Delaware is in a three-way tie for fifth at 7-6 after finishing last in the CAA at 3-15 a year ago. The Hens (5 to 10) and Seahawks (7 to 15) are two of only six Division I teams to have already doubled their overall win totals from last season.

VCU leads the nation in 3-point FG percentage defense (27.0%), ranks 11th in FG percentage defense (38.1%) and is 12th in scoring defense (59.2 ppg) through games of Feb. 10. The Rams have held six opponents to less than 50 points and are allowing only 55.9 ppg in CAA play. Only three teams have scored more than 70 points versus VCU this season.

CAA MEN’S BASKETBALL Co-PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Folarin Campbell, George Mason

Campbell averaged 26.5 points and 3.0 assists while shooting 50% from the floor as George Mason split a pair of road games last week. The senior guard matched a career-high with 25 points in a 75-65 win at Drexel and then topped it with 28 points in a loss at Old Dominion. The effort moved Campbell into 14th place on Mason’s career scoring chart with 1,369 points.

CAA MEN’S BASKETBALL Co-PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Abdulai Jalloh, James Madison

Jalloh averaged 26.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.0 steals as James Madison went 1-1 last week. The junior guard set a Trask Coliseum scoring record with 37 points in a setback at UNCW and had 16 points and a team-high eight rebounds in a win over Towson. For the week, Jalloh shot 68% from the floor, including 6-of-10 from 3-point range.

CAA MEN’S BASKETBALL ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

Alphonso Dawson, Delaware

Dawson averaged 16.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in Delaware’s two games last week. The freshman guard poured in a career-best 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds against first-place VCU, which was the fourth-best scoring total ever by a UD freshman. He also had eight points in a one-point victory over UNCW.

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3 Responses to “From the Home Office in Richmond, VA…”

glad that you’ve bought in, ’cause we’re officially biting our nails. the last 5 are rough for the tribe: road trips to wilmington, towson and mason with home games against drexel and vcu. 2-3 would be more than satisfactory from the g:tb corner of the world. here’s hoping they’ll be fired up by gene nichol’s departure (a topic for another time and a lot of spleen-venting).

Dawson as freshman of the week over Chad Tomko? I hope that is locker room material for him, because if he plays like he did against Madison, William and Mary is in big trouble. Make mine the Dub 75-65. Dub is
9-2 at home, no way the Tribe comes in and beats us tomorrow. Then it is on to Mason–they can’t go undefeated at home all season—-can they?

Frank…great question. I hope my Mason boys go 14-0 at home this season, but that’s going to be difficult against a good UNCW team. That rematch is going to be a dandy – plus, it’s Mason’s homecoming game as well (a sellout, too). Right now, I’m more concerned about us not sucking at Towson…